


Let Them Be

by The_Trope_Dope



Category: WordGirl (Cartoon)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cute Kids, Family, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Protective Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Trope_Dope/pseuds/The_Trope_Dope
Summary: Johnson comes over to hang out with TJ in the backyard, and Becky tries to keep her parents' embarrassing behavior (in reaction to finding out that Tj and Johnson like one another) to a minimal, with mixed results.
Relationships: TJ Botsford/Johnson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Let Them Be

**Author's Note:**

> Liz Breen, associate producer and writer on Wordgirl, confirmed that Tj and his best friend Johnson were part of a canon pairing, and I figured the Botsfords would be the kind of parents that are super embarrassing about how cute it is for their kid to have a crush. I also liked the idea of Becky trying to protect him from being mortified forever. I also want to make it clear that the Botsfords act the way they do because they think TJ having a crush is cute, with nothing to do with the fact that it's on someone of the same gender.
> 
> ((Also the narrator is in this, and it's kind of awkward to write "The narrator said" so his dialogue is in double parenthesis ))

((Hey kids, watch out for the word 'overzealous' in this story))

(( It's a beautiful day in the City, and at the Home of the Botsfords, the family is expecting a visitor...)) Mr. and Ms. Botsford were sitting at the dining table, sipping coffee and chatting giddily. Sally abruptly stopped and started making frantic 'stop' motions at her husband. 

" Honey, I don't know what these signals mean. Is the house about to make a sharp turn? " Tim looked around warily.

"No! The kids are coming _be quiet_!" Sally whisper-screamed very loudly.

"Alright i'm bein-"

"BE QUIET!" Sally said even more frantically, basically at the top of her lungs at this point.

"Alright, alright, I'm being quiet!" Tim agreed, matching his wife's energy.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked TJ as he and Becky walked into the kitchen. Mr. and Ms. Botsford very casually and inconspicuously covered each other's mouths. They shot each other a look and assuming normal parent-sitting-at-a-table-position. They smiled, very wide and awkward like.

"Talking? We're not talking." Tim said and shoved his face into his coffee. 

"Who's talking? No one's talking. Do you want a snack?" Sally dodged. Very smooth, very natural. 

"No thanks mom, I'm just gonna watch some T.V. until Johnson gets here." Tj said and started out of the room. Tim and Sally looked at each other and giggled. Becky crossed her arms and shook her head as Bob walked in. Tj turned around and arched an eyebrow.

"What's funny?" He asked. Rather than reply, Mr. and Ms. Botsford quickly looked away and at the ceiling. Tim drank more coffee and Sally whistled. Tj shrugged and went to the living room. His parents were acting weird, sure, but acting weird was their natural state. If he questioned it every single time his parents acted odd he would never get anything done. 

((Are you gonna tell me what's going on? Because I'm lost, which is bad form for a narrator.)) 

"Yeah, but not here." Becky whispered up to the disembodied voice. She scurried to her room, leaving Bob, who had sat at the table with her parents, behind. She got to her room and closed the door. Becky sat on her bed and looked back up at the nebulous space where she imagined the Narrator might occupy space, were he able to do so. 

"Alright, now I can explain. Tj's friend Johnson is coming over."

((Yeah... and? That never warranted this kind of behavior before.))

"Yeah, but they've finally caught on to the fact that Tj and Johnson like each other, and Johnson is coming over today so..."

((Ah, I see, so they're gushing at how cute they think it is.))

"Exactly, and it could get really embarrassing for Tj, so I'm going to see if I can try to keep them at a minimum." Becky announced.

(( Huh, that's nice of you! Good sistering!))

"Sistering? Seriously?" Becky chided playfully as she walked back towards the kitchen. Becky sat down at the table alongside her parents and Bob, who was reading a newspaper. She looked over at Tj, who was happily watching T.V. on the couch, Becky smiled and chatted, somewhat one-sidedly with Bob. Then they heard a knock at the door. Tim and Sally grinned and let out some exited noises. Becky furrowed her brow at her parents and put a finger to her lips, and the two quieted down a bit.

Tj opened the and welcomed Johnson in happily. Becky eyed her parents who were making wild, silent gestures towards Tj and Johnson, tugging on each other's arms and pointing at the boys to each other. Becky just barely fought the urge to roll her eyes at her parents, while Bob made no such efforts. 

"Hey!" Becky whispered, getting her parents attention, and then shook her head.

"Did you bring your action figures?" Tj asked excitedly, Johnson held up his backpack and nodded vigorously with big grin. Mr. and Ms. Botsford hit their breaking point, shaking from trying to hold in their enthusiasm. Their composure burst like balloons.

"HI JOHNSON!" Tim beamed and waved at the kids aggressively. Sally giggled and did a little shimmy, like a child presented with a lollipop. "YOU BOYS HAVE FUN!" She exclaimed and chuckled a little to herself. Becky and Bob smacked their foreheads in unison. Tim and Sally made guilty faces at Becky who let out a sigh. She decided to take a more hands on tactic.

"Heeeeeey!" Becky quickly cut in. _Okay Becky, sister mode. Gotta think of something!_ She thought. "Why don't you boys... " Becky's eyed darted around, landing on the sliding glass doors behind the dining table, "Go to the backyard?" she asked hopefully. _Please go outside, please go outside, please go outside and out of earshot of Mom and Dad._

"To the backyard!" he boys announced together. Becky allowed herself a sigh of relief, rather than disapproval. Then she realized that if they were going to get out to the backyard they would have to walk right past her parents. Becky looked over at her parents who were grinning like idiots. Becky locked eyes with each of her parents, and made the "zip it" gesture. Tim interpreted this as a signal to hold his breath, and Sally followed suit.

The boys dashed past the malfunctioning parents, out through the door and into the backyard. Becky closed the door behind them and her parents let out their breath and their composure burst like balloons.

"Ah! So cute!" Sally squawked. 

"Oh, I just can't take it!" Tim did a little dance where he stood. Bob threw away his newspaper and squeaked with annoyance. Becky sat down at the table and slammed her head down on it. _At least Tj isn't here to see the cavalcade of gushing now._

(( Wow. You weren't kidding, they are really bad.))

"I know right? And Johnson just got here!"

((You know, it just occurred to me, how did they figure out that Tj and Johnson like each other, when they still don't know that you're Wordgirl?))

"Sh! Not so loud loud with the Wordgirl stuff!" Becky scolded.

((Oh, don't worry, they're not listening.)) The narrator's blunt remark was right, Tim and Sally were definitely distracted t that particular moment.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, Tj has a habit of letting out his thoughts and feelings through his action figures when he's alone. And they happened to be in the hallway at the right time to hear about it."

((Yikes. Hey you might want to uh, heard them back in, there.)) Becky looked up at her parents who had their noses pressed to the glass like puppies waiting for their master. Becky groaned and stood up.

"Hey, don't you guys think you're being a little overzealous?" Becky asked, Her parents whipped their heads around. Sally looked confused, while Tim looked outright bewildered.

"Overzealous?" said Tim, "You're gonna have to give us a little help with that one, sweetie." 

"Zealous means to have zeal, and zeal is energy or zeal being put towards something, to be overzealous is to have too much zeal." Becky explained as the definition music played subtly int he background.

"Oh! Oh..." Her parents looked to each other, and then guiltily down at the floor. 

"We'll try to keep it down." Promised Sally and the two tried to go about their business, only occasionally sneaking glances out the window. Becky mopped her brow and plopped down on the couch. 

((Good work, you really put a lot of effort into that.))

"Thanks."

((Could I ask why?))

"Well, he and Johnson have been best friends for a long time now, and they're handling liking each other really well. They're just... They're being really mature about it, you know?"

((Mature huh, perhaps in a way that you wish you could have been with your crushes in the past?)) 

"Well... yeah. I've done some things I'm not all that proud of over a crush, and I've even been... well... not the best sister to Tj so I could hang out with someone I liked. He's being better than I was, and I'm proud of him." Becky admitted.

((Aw, that's nice.)) Becky smiled. Everything was relatively calm for a while, until Sally took a quick look out the window and reacted very loudly to what she saw.

"OH MY GOSH, THEIR HOLDING HANDS!" She announced, and Tim raced to his wife's side to see. Becky looked momentarily like she also thought that was very cute, before assuming a serious expression. She raised a finger to call out her parents before she was interrupted by the disembodied voice of the narrator.

((Oh, go on. You've earned it.)) Becky smiled and raced (a little too fast for a regular human, but her parents didn't seem to notice) to the window. The family shared a collective 'aw' at the sight before they, and they looked up and noticed the clouds looming overhead.

"Oh no, it looks like it's going to rain soon." Said Tim with a frown.

"Oh, it looks like their play date is going to be cut short." Said Sally sympathetically. The parents dispersed from the window and Becky thought for a minute. She zipped to the garage in a flash and dug up the family tent. Unfortunately she found that it had a big hole in it. She sighed for the umteenth time that day and powered up into word girl. She flew at an incredible speed to her friend Violet's house.

"Oh hi Beck- I mean Word Girl." Said violet with a conspicuous wink when she came to the door.

"Hi Viole- I mean citizen, " Wordgirl said with a returned wink, "Can I borrow you're tent for reasons I can't explain right now?" She asked very quickly. 

"Sure it's in the back" Violet replied, Wordgirl nodded and disappeared, then reappeared within an instant.

"Thaaaank yoooouuu!" Wordgirl called back as she flew away.

"Your weeeeel-cooooome!" Called violet with a smile. Wordgirl flew back to the Botsford house with the tent. She hovered over the backyard and looked down at the two kids, playing happily with their action figures, blissfully unaware of the rain clouds above them.

"Hello citizens!" Word girl said down to the boys in the heroic tone she took occasionally while in her super-hero persona.

"Wordgirl!" Said Tj exitedly, "What are you doing here?" 

"Well I was... doing... something," Becky stumbled, "And I noticed you sitting out here. You didn't seem to realize that it was about to rain, so I borrowed this tent for you." She smiled and placed the tent beside the boys.

"Wow, thanks Wordgirl. Hey, isn't this Violet' tent?" He asked, but he looked up to see that the super hero was gone. Tj shrugged and sat down alongside Johnson, who was already in the tent. The two of them smiled awkwardly to themselves momentarily before resuming the elaborate story they had been weaving with their toys. 

Wordgirl flew high above the backyard and rainclouds and struck a well-earned heroic pose.

((And once again the day, or should I say the date-)) The narrator abruptly paused at a glare from Wordgirl.

((Sorry, couldn't resist.)) Wordgirl nodded at the appology.

((And once again the day is save, thanks to Wordgirl!))


End file.
